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Mr Mackie said maintaining the required level of expertise in-house would have been unaffordable.

### ODT Online Fri, 30 Dec 2011DCC racks up $4m consultants’ bill
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council has accumulated a $4 million bill for consultants working on the Three Waters strategy, but council water and waste services manager John Mackie says it is money well spent. Mr Mackie told the Otago Daily Times the bulk of the $4 million spending between 2008 and June 30 this year had gone to four companies – Opus, URS, Beca and United Kingdom-based Wallingford Software.Read more

### ODT Online Thu, 29 Dec 2011Big cost for university to insure
By Matthew Haggart
The University of Otago will incur a significant financial hit to insure its $2.3 billion worth of building and contents assets next year. Premiums have risen by 62% in the wake of a response from international markets to the earthquakes in Christchurch. […] The University of Otago has 13 category 1 heritage buildings registered with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and another six category 2 buildings. The insured valuation of the university’s heritage buildings is about 18% of its $2.3 billion building and contents assets portfolio – equivalent to about $41.4 million.Read more

### ODT Online Tue, 27 Dec 2011Restoration funding for historic properties
Oliver’s Restaurant, in Clyde, and Woodside, in Dunedin, have received New Zealand Historic Places Trust funding for restoration work.
Oliver’s received $35,000 from the NZHPT contestable national heritage preservation incentive fund to strengthen and repair the former Naylor’s General Store roof on the property.
Woodside [pictured below], in Lovelock Ave, North Dunedin, received $40,000 to replace wooden joinery and the slate roof.Read more

Paul Le Comte and Elizabeth Kerr, co-authors of What if? Dunedin, wish our small band of contributors and our alarmingly wide audience of silent politicised readers a very Merry Christmas ~!!!

We love your thoughts, offerings, and weighings up – and most of all your humour, honour, figure counts and racy wordplay in the most frustrating of civic circumstances. Many thanks, everyone, for frequenting the website and creating a small slice of Dunedin digital history.

Paul is holidaying in the North Island sun this year, with his Christchurch family taking a break from the aftermaths of #eqnz
Elizabeth is spending Christmas at Dunedin Hospital, supporting a family member through a tough time on the medical ward.

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“We are realistic in that it is not just a question of getting it built; it is a question of keeping it funded after it is built.” –Phil Cole

### ODT Online Fri, 23 Dec 2011Cable car plans shared
By Hamish McNeilly
Members of the trust aiming to resurrect the High St cable car have met Dunedin City Council officials to discuss their plans. Dunedin Cable Car Trust chairman Phil Cole confirmed a meeting with council representatives had taken place this week, but said the trust was not asking the council for financial assistance. The trust was asked to submit on the draft spatial plan and the transportation strategy for next year, and “this is encouraging”, the Dunedin-based transportation engineer said.Read more

### ODT Online Tue, 20 Dec 2011Jacks Point depot proposal draws nine opposing submissions
By Olivia Caldwell
A [macrocarpa] hedge drew attention at a resource consent hearing last week for Henley Downs Farm Ltd’s application to establish a Delta services depot at Jacks Point. Henley Downs, owned by Jacks Point developer John Darby, proposed the subdivision and land-use consent to operate the depot within the resort zone, as the infrastructure specialists look to expand their depot from their Ladies Mile-Frankton site. It would include eight buildings, two of which would exceed the 4m height limit, and three storage containers, all covering 1sq km. The proposal attracted 11 submissions, nine in opposition.Read more